Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/August 31 2007
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Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, the Apostle of Northumbria (died 651), was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the anglified form of the original Old Irish Áedán.
An Irishman, possibly born in Connacht, Aidan was a monk at the monastery on the island of Iona in Scotland.
Oswald of Northumbria had been living at the Iona monastery as a king in exile since 616 AD. There he converted to Christianity and was baptised.
Owing to his past at Iona, he requested missionaries from that monastery instead of the Roman-backed monasteries in England. At first the monastery sent a new bishop named Corman, but he returned to Iona and reported that the Northumbrians were too stubborn to be converted. Aidan criticised Corman's methods and was soon sent as a replacement in 635.
Aidan chose the island of Lindisfarne, close to the royal castle at Bamburgh, as his seat of his diocese. King Oswald, who spoke Irish, often had to translate for Aidan and his monks, who did not speak English at first. When Oswald died in 642, Aidan received continued support from King Oswine of Deira and the two became close friends.
An inspired missionary, Aidan would walk from one village to another, politely conversing with the people he saw and slowly interesting them in Christianity. By patiently talking to the people on their own level Aidan and his monks slowly restored Christianity to the Northumbrian communities.
In 651 a pagan army attacked Bamburgh and attempted to set its walls ablaze. According to legend, Aidan prayed for the city, after which the winds turned and blew the smoke and fire toward the enemy, repulsing them.
Aidan's friend Oswine of Deira was murdered in 651. Twelve days later Aidan died, on August 31, in the 17th year of his episcopate.
Attributes: Monk holding a flaming torch; stag
Patronage: Northumbria; Firefighters
Prayer:
